I called in on the 6th of September, cancelled, had TDS put in, then found out today they have no record of me calling in and I’m still being charged for cable and internet. They said I only cut off my phone with them. I now see why people take guns into places and shoot up the building. Comcast is a monster and I hate everything about them down to the automated voice recordings. If I could wage war against them without being arrested, I would. I’d love to release a disease covered rodent into all it’s buildings. I’d love to find out the owners address and continue to send him invoices for NOTHING, and turn in his credit when he doesnt pay them. If I was rich, I’d buy Comcast, just so I could run it into the ground. With every fiber of my being, I hope they go under due to the stupidity of their employees.

This is a good one. I received this in my inbox the other day and it’s pretty unbelievable. This conversation was orignally posted on CraigsList, but I’ve copied it here for everyone to read and marvel at the craziness of this company.

A little background:

A Comcast customer contacts the online chat support after having received an email saying his account will be suspended or deleted. The conversation goes back and forth, and what it boils down to is that there is confusion in the Comcast system as to whether or not this customer has returned their old, outdated, $200 converter box.

He pays almost $3,000 per year to Comcast… You do the math.

Here goes:

Dumb Comcast conversation (Hollywood, FL)

Date: 2010-07-18, 1:35AM EDT

See how dumb Comcast is. Read this ridiculous conversation with a Comcast rep with their service department on line. Lose a $3000 per year subscriber over an old cable box from over 4 years ago being accused of not being returned.

Customer Edward_ has entered room

EDWARD>
Hello, I got an email message saying to contact you here or my email address will be suspended or deleted? I have a lot linked to this email address, it has been mine for almost 10 years. Please help me, I don’t understand what the problem is.

Walter>
Let me begin this conversation by letting you know how sorry I am for the trouble you are experiencing right now. I understand what you are going through and this has not been a simple inconvenience. To completely rectify this situation, as your Comcast service representative, I want you to know that issue resolution and your satisfaction are my top priorities for today. I believe you are the right person to work with with this issue. Together, we can work this out.

Walter>
I understand you have a Comcast email address associated to your disconnected account at a former address, right?

Edward_>
I’m not sure what you mean. I moved to Florida from New Jersey 3 years ago, I’ve had a comcast account for years.

Walter>
I can resolve this issue for you today.

Walter>
May I have your Comcast account number please?

Edward_>
1 moment

Edward_>
i am looking it up

Walter>
Thank you, Edward.

Edward_>
i get electronically billed, the last 4 digits are 7846, so can you ask me another question

Walter>
Allow me to look it up for you.

Walter>
May I have the last four digits of your Social Security Number, this will verify the security provided to your Comcast account, so we can proceed.

Edward_>
7—-

Walter>
Thank you very much, allow me time to process this one for you.

Walter>
Kindly give me two minutes to process this for you.

Edward_>
Thanks!

Walter>
Alright, I found your current and active account:

Walter>
SHEILA KLE—–, 4917 xxxx TER HOLLYWOOD,FL 33312, correct?

Edward_>
correct

Walter>
Alright, and the Comcast email in question, es****@comcast.net is associated to a disconnected account at 70 ******* LN MONROE TOWNSHIP,NJ 08831M, under your name.

Edward_>
I lived there 3 years ago then my work moved us to FL.

Walter>
Yes, and now Comcast detected this and is asking you to transfer this email to your active account at Hollywood, FL, so it will not be deleted in the system.

Edward_>
yes please.

Walter>
However I checked the former account in Township, NJ, there is an unreturned converter box, you need to return this first to the local office for us to proceed.

Edward_>
????, we dropped it off to them 3 years ago and they gave us a pink or yellow form. If you ask me now to provide you with that form, I will flip out….This is 3 years later!! I can’t believe this.

Walter>
I am very sorry for the inconvenience, may I know which local office you dropped the converter box please?

Edward_>
It was 5 minutes away from our house in the next town over. I think it was Jamesburg

Walter>
So they can scan their records and have it cleared as soon as possible.

Edward_>
By the way, do you know that we are talking about a box that is analog and obsolete?? They were calling me to switch to digital because the box was going to be outdated and I told them that I was moving in a couple of months anyway and that I would be returning the box so to just hold off.

Walter>
After that, kindly chat back or call, so we can proceed with the transfer.

Walter>
I understand, however that box is a property of Comcast and I believe you were renting it base on the billing ledger here of the account.

Walter>
I do believe you returned the box, however local office did not clear it here, how I wish we can, but it needs evidence and only from them has that slip of evidence they can scan from their archive.

Walter>
May I know from the local offices I posted above, which one is nearer Jamesburg please?

Walter>
I am noting this down, so this will be properly investigated.

Edward_>
It obviously looks like their records will say I didn’t return the box because they are a bunch of losers. How much is this going to cost me to make this whole?

Edward_>
How much is the box?

Walter>
I understand, let me check, as you know the estimate is with the source or the local office.

Edward_>
You can’t be bringing this to my attention 3 years later. this is unbelievable.

Edward_>
This will be ending our relatinship if this isn’t resolved. I pay over $230 per month to comcast. they can kiss my ass goodbye if they delete my account over the bullsh-t.

Walter>
Yes, I strongly advise you now, to call local office in New Jersey near your account was, so they can have this “unreturned converter box” cleared so we can transfer your active Comcast email associated to the disconnected account to your Florida account.

Walter>
I checked, the analog converter box, is being estimated by our local office only. All we have here is its rented rate per month.

Edward_>
What local office and what’s the number of the office??

Walter>
And they will be personally be the one to process the transfer of e***k@comcast.net to your active account in Florida, to avoid its deletion.

Walter>
I personally apologize if I am not very familiar with the geography of New Jersey, kindly choose from these local offices we have in New Jersey state please:

Edward_>
I won’t be calling NJ to join on some easter Egg hunt and be part of a “he said she said, so pay us $200 for an old worthless box” game.. Our relationship with Comcast will be over once you delete my email address. I’ve also copied this entire conversation to send to regulators, my local congressman and your CEO, so that your CEO knows how dumb some of the policies at his company are and why they lost a customer that pays almost $3,000 per year in subscriptions….over a worthless box issue that I am being accused of 3 years later!!! I’m late to work now and stressed out because of this, have a nice day. Good bye.

Walter>
I am truly sorry Edward for this.

Walter>
I am noting this so we can make a drastic adjustment in our end.

Walter>
How I wish in my end, I can remove the tag on your New Jersey account, I truly know how you feel.

Edward_>
Save your company Walter. Don’t join the “Knucklehead Gang”. Take this conversation and escalate it. HAve an intelligent supervisor that has some power fix this and make it right. Have a nice weekend.

Walter>
I understand your point, allow me to inform my supervisor right now, and what she can provide, kindly hold for two minutes please.

Edward_>
ok

Walter>
Thank you, allow me to brief her shortly with what I have discovered here and the situation you are in and the policies we have, I understand you were already given an email about this transfer you need to do for e***k@comcast.net.

Edward_>
Comcast sends me emails of programs, movies, specials, etc…I delete every one of them. I get 1oo emails a day. I pay my comcast bill every month, you think I read emails from Comcast?? This one caught my eye because it had some kind of warning that looks like I have not paid my bill.

Walter>
I understand, I am glad you have paid attention to that important email, regarding this, I am confident this can be resolved and we can work this out.

Walter>
So you can start your day again fresh and in good mood, we don’t want to cause bother.

Edward_>
Please Walter… Imagine, $3,000 per year for 10 years = $30,000…gone to AT&T over a worthless Cable Box which I returned to a miserable Comcast lady behind a bullet proof glass who didn’t say thank you nor look up at me, just gave me a slip and I said goodbye

Walter>
Edward I thoroughly informed her the situation, she understand, and base on the process, she would likely tell you the same as what I said earlier for the resolution. Would you still like to chat with her?

Walter>
I can picture that, Edward, and I am embarrass with the picture. Truly sorry I am.

Edward_>
No, I’m signing out now. This will be a story I will be telling for a while to friends and family and at the water cooler at work if they cancel my email over this nonsense. Save your company, tell your supervisor to make sure they don’t cancel my email address.

The Consumerist (one of our favorite sites which helps consumers navigate the wide world of goods and services for sale) reports on one Comcast customer who says she’s about ready to cancel her Comcast service because they’re not willing to cut her a break on her bill.

Usually, Comcast folds like a deck of cards when customer asks for a deal. Not this time though. After a back and forth with Comcast, Courtney gets the short end of the stick, even though she loves Comcast. Seems like even their biggest fans still get the worst deals.

Courtney over at the Consumerist tells her story:

I’ve been a Comcast customer at my current address since June 2008. We were initially on a new-customer promotion that ended in June 2009; once that happened, I called Comcast & spoke with a representative about our options for bringing our monthly bill down a bit. I don’t remember the specifics of the conversation a year later, but I believe we gave up a few premium channels, ultimately ending up with a package that served our needs while remaining within our budget.

I hadn’t even thought about this until several days ago, when I went to pay our monthly Comcast bill & noticed it had gone up by about $20 from the previous month. I assumed it was some kind of easily correctable error, but when I followed up with Comcast I learned that apparently we’d been on some kind of promotional rate for June 2009-10, which has now expired. I discussed this issue first with an online chat representative, & while I was disappointed when he told me nothing could be done about the price increase, I figured I’d have better luck once I spoke with someone in person. However, after following up via phone with a frontline service representative, a retention specialist, & finally with a retention supervisor, the consensus seems to be that Comcast would rather I switch to RCN’s version of the same package than restore my account to the previous pricing.

Check out FiOS by Verizon here. You’ll see they have plans cheaper than Comcast does, which is sure to save you money on your Comcast Bill.

So, stop paying more than you need to, for a service you no longer need. Get FiOS and drop Comcast. Plus, their ranked #1 in customer satisfaction. Where does that leave Comcast? I don’t care! We just know it’s not number one!

Here’s a good one – a full chat transcript a customer had with the Comcast Customer support. Blogger Darwin over at darwinsfinance.com posts his entire chat conversation he had with Comcast to lower his bill.

The main idea is that you can get a better deal than you currently are. Comcast is always (always!) having special discounts. What does this mean? The price of their actual service isn’t worth as much as they charge!

It’s simple math. They give discounts out left and right and make the suckers without the discount pay for those who have the discount. Don’t be a sucker, get a discount!

As you can see, each negotiating experience and outcome is different. Message? It sort of depends who you get and when you try. So, if you don’t get the deal you wanted, keep trying and don’t take no for an answer. But the bottom line is that if your initial bill is say, $160 you may very well walk away paying $50 less with some minimal effort.

That’s good news!

Here’s part of the conversation:

Comcast Rep>Thank you. May I have the exact concern that you have, — ME –?

– ME –_>Sure. I’m reaching out because the 6 months is up on the prior agreed promotions and I was advised to contact again when this occurs. My bill jumped up substantially.

– ME –_>I had previously considered switching over to FIOS given the attractive offers they have now that they’ve entered our neighborhood. The past few 6 month cycles, Comcast has discounted my bill in order to retain my business.

Comcast Rep>May I know when was the promotion ended?

– ME –_>from last month’s bill, it was to end 12/28/09.

Comcast Rep>I see. Please give me a moment to check on this.

– ME –_>sure

Comcast Rep>I apologize for the inconvenience, I see here that the bill that you are viewing will from 12/29 – 01/28. Comcast actually printed the bill in advance to avoid delinquent payment. That payment that is reflected on your bill will be the regular rate after your promotion will end on 12/28/09.

– ME –_>I’m not sure I follow. My last bill was much lower. In discussing this with Comcast in the past, each 6 months, I call and have a new promotion (whatever’s available at the time) applied to the account in order to bring the price well below the “regular rate”. I was assured during prior calls that this agreement would continue to be honored into the future if I agreed to stay on as a customer. Can you check out which promotions you’re running now that you could apply to bring the total bill back in line? Thanks

TechFlash is reporting that Comcast customers in Washington state are about to see a big increase on the Comcast Bill. They say that in August, the average customer’s bill will increase by 4%. For those of you paying too much already, maybe now’s the time to drop the service.

This latest rounds of price increases comes less than a year after their last increase. In September of 2009, Comcast increased their price by 2.5%.

Here are the details TechFlash is reporting from Comocast:

–Customers who subscribe to a video service will see an average monthly increase of $3.21 or 4.9 percent.

–The equipment rental fee for a cable modem, which also is sold at numerous retail stores, will increase by $2.

–Customers who subscribe to Limited Basic, the least expensive package of channels, will see no increase in their bills for this service. Limited Basic includes the broadcast channels and the public, education and government channels. Prices range from $13 to $18 depending on location.

–And customers who subscribe to the Digital Economy package of channels, which is the least costly digital package, will see a decrease in the monthly charge for the package ranging from 4 cents a month if they subscribe to two or more Comcast services to $10.04 a month if they subscribe only to the Digital Economy package and take no other services.

The recent news of Comcast buying NBC means only one thing: Goliath just got a lot bigger.

If you’re at all concerned with the free market ideals that this nation was built on, there’s no way you can’t be just as pissed as I am about this. Comcast is already the largest cable and internet provider serving over 20 million video customers and over 16 million internet customers. The big idea: Comcast is a monopoly and with the recent purchase of NBC, the monopoly is not going in the right direction.

Ryan Singel, in his article on WIRED says “Comcast is paying GE about $6.5 billion in cash and $7.25 billion in programming for a 51 percent stake. GE remains in control of the rest of the company, valued at $30 billion in the complicated deal.”

What this means is Comcast now owns over half of NBC.

Additionally interesting is Singel’s mention of fate of NBC-owned Hulu – the free way to watch TV shows, movies and more online. With the purchase of NBC, and the growing threat of Comcast customers ditching the service when free options are available, it might just be that Comcast decides to shut Hulu down. Or, at least allow access only to paying Comcast customers. Either way, it’s not a good sign to those of us who’d rather watch TV on the internet for (get this price) free.

So Comcast, you can take your 51 percent share and become that much more of a behemoth, but just remember, even Goliath couldn’t crush the small guy no matter how hard he tried.